Caption from LIFE. By floodlight, rescuers labor through the night cutting away wreckage imprisoning dead and dying. Shredded steel of seventh coach lies strewn on ground right of tower. Eighth coach rests on side against base of tower.Ralph Morse—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Caption from LIFE. By floodlight, rescuers labor through the night cutting away wreckage imprisoning dead and dying. Shr

Aftermath of a Train Wreck: Photos From the Crash of the Congressional

The Congressional Limited was passing through Philadelphia on the way from Washington to New York City, on Sept. 6, 1943, when it happened: an engine man, LIFE reported, "saw smoke and flame shooting from a journal box (housing for the end of an axle) on the seventh coach." Though he tried to notify a signal man fast enough to get a warning light posted, it was too late. The Congressional broke apart as the wheel tore off the axle, causing a train wreck that led to dozens of deaths.